


Diffindo

by sassy941



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aurors, Case Fic, F/M, M/M, Post-War, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-04 07:58:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4130415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassy941/pseuds/sassy941
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Ministry of Magic is concerned with the increase of dark artifacts that are turning up, and Harry and Ron are assigned to work the case. Draco Malfoy, who now works for the Artifact Collections Department , is called in to be a consultant on the case. Both men have matured greatly since the War, but that is all put to the test when they are required to work side by side to save people they both care about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I'll be honest, I have not posted stories in a long time and am extremely nervous about posting this one. I'm very excited though to be doing this, and I think this piece will turn out great. Please let me know what you think, it will be highly appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

Auror’s Potter and Weasley were currently on their fifth stakeout of the month doing everything possible to entertain themselves. Head Auror Rogers had sent what she considered her two most skilled men to sit and watch an abandoned wood house. The Ministry of Magic had recently noticed an increase in the amount of dark artifacts that the Auror Headquarters was collecting and believed it to be a cause for concern.

Rogers had not yet explained why they were watching this particular house, but it looked like it was in terrible condition. The snow had caused the old roof to dip inwards and the strong winds made the door randomly open and close. Most of the windows were cracked or broken, and the glass littered the front area of the house. 

When the door did a particularly loud slam, Ron groaned, “Argh, I’m not sure how much longer I can stand this.”

Harry rolled his eyes at the deep sigh that followed his complaint and continued absentmindedly twirling his wand. The red-head shifted uncomfortably around on his mat finally sitting up when he couldn’t get comfortable.            

“You can’t be having fun either, mate,” he questioned with an eyebrow raise while gesturing around the tent they were confined to, “I just wish _something_ would happen. Who would even want to use that place?”

Harry opened his mouth to reply when the telltale sound of someone apparating caused both men to quickly reach for their wands. They crawled quietly out into the brisk air and threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves, treading carefully through the snow.

Ron was gripping his wand and leading the way towards the new visitor. Harry was so focused on his surroundings and making sure that no one was going to pop up on them that he did not notice the man in front of him suddenly stop and made a quiet noise when his body collided with Ron’s.

“Bloody hell, mate,” Ron snapped quietly under his breath. “Do you want to get us caught?“

"Did you hear that?” A distinctly feminine voice broke the tension, and Harry held up his hands defensively when Ron glared at him.

“Shut it. We need to get this place ready, they’ll be here soon.”

A gruff voice replied harshly to the woman and then started waving his wand around, quietly whispering, what Harry assumed, to be protection wards around the place. Their backs were turned away from them, but he could not shake the feeling that he recognized the voices.

Ron started to move forward trying to get a closer look at the wizards when he must’ve gotten too close and tripped a ward.

“Who’s there?” The gruff voice demanded, whirling around and pointing his wand directly at where Ron and Harry were standing. The man's face did not register with either Auror, but his voice still sounded familiar.

Both men were now tightly gripping their wands and ready to defend themselves if necessary, but before they could react the man quickly brought his wand slashing in a downward arc. Ron gasped out in surprise before collapsing to the ground and when Harry looked down he saw his partner's pants staining a dark red.

“ _Stupefy!”_ Harry shouted quickly before gripping Ron and apparating to St. Mungos.

He gently sat him down in a chair before running over to the front desk, trying to ignore how pale his partner’s face was becoming.

“Excuse me, I need some help over here! An Auror has been hit with a curse.”

A team quickly appeared with a gurney and levitated Ron onto it. Harry was trying to remain calm as he watched them wheel away his friend. He turned around to the front desk and noticed a Healer staring at him.

“Do you guys have a private floo I could use, please?”

The woman nodded and he followed her down the hallway into a secluded area of the hospital. She stopped suddenly at the start of a hallway that had rows of doors leading down it.

“You are welcome to use any of these rooms, Auror Potter.”

Harry nodded at her and gave a small smile before walking down towards one of the end doors, waiting until he could no longer hear the sound of clicking heels. When he walked inside, Harry was surprised to note that the room was surprisingly cozy. There was dark hardwood flooring and three worn-in plush chairs surrounding the fireplace positioned on the back wall.

Harry grabbed a handful of powder and tossed it into the fireplace, shouting, “Auror Rogers’ Office.”

“Potter,” Rogers barked, “I've been waiting for a check-in call, what is going on? Where is Auror Weasley?”           

Rogers came across as a stern woman, which would be the correct assumption, but she did care for all her Aurors.

Harry rubbed his face roughly and suppressed a deep sigh, “During the stakeout two unknown subjects apparated to the house, Ron and I went to secure the perimeter and as we were moving closer, Ron tripped a ward and it alerted them to our presence.”

“Then what, Potter?” Harry was surprised to hear a note of worry in Rogers’ voice.

“The man that was there asked us to reveal ourselves and when we did not he shot some type of curse at Ron. I cast a stunning spell and grabbed Ron and now we are at the hospital. I have not received any updates on his condition yet.”

Rogers was now pacing around her office looking deep in thought, “Alright, Potter, I want you to contact Mrs. Granger-Weasley and let her know about Auror Weasley and then please come back to the office immediately.”

Harry did not feel comfortable about leaving Ron, but he knew better than to go against direct orders from Rogers.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Harry disconnected the floo call and racked his brain for the way he was going to tell Hermione about Ron. Taking a deep breath, Harry picked up some more powder and threw it down into the fireplace.

“Weasley Residence!”

Hermione leaned down into the fireplace with a warm smile, clutching a book in her hand. Harry allowed himself to return her smile, noticing the way she was affectionately rubbing her stomach.

“Harry, I was just starting to worry!” Her eyebrows creased when she noticed the smile did not reach his eyes. “I’m coming through.”

“ ‘Mione, wait-“

Harry did not have a chance to finish the sentence before the largely pregnant woman stepped through the fireplace, crashing into his arms.

“It’s Ron, isn’t it?”

He gave her a tight nod and returned her embrace. “He’ll be okay, he always is.”

“Can we see him?” Hermione asked while wiping her wet eyes off on her sleeve.

At that moment a hesitant knock came from outside before the same young, nervous looking woman opened the door, Harry saw that her name tag read Healer Lowen. 

“Mr. Potter? I’m so sorry to interrupt you, but your partner is requesting to see you.”

“Please take us to him,” when Lowen quickly glanced at Hermione, Harry answered her silent question, “this is his wife, Hermione Granger-Weasley.”

Healer Lowen gave her a small smile before she gestured for them to follow her. She led them into an area of the hospital that neither Harry nor Hermione recognized. 

“Excuse me, but ward has he been placed in?” Hermione questioned, concern written all over her face. 

Lowen paused briefly to glance over Ron’s file. “Ronald B. Weasley, admitted to St. Mungos on January 24th for being hit with an unknown curse while on active duty as an Auror,” the nurse continued reading under her breath before she made a small noise, “Ah, here we go, he is in the Unknown Curses ward, room 554B.”

They continued the rest of the walk in silence stopping when they reached Ron’s room. “This is his room here, please do not hesitate to page any of the staff if you have any more questions.”

Nurse Lowen gave them both a small nod and opened the door for them.

“This better be Harry bloody Potter because if I have one more Healer in here poking and prodding me, I swear to…” Ron cut short when he saw them both entering the room, his face going soft when he spotted Hermione, “Oh, thank Merlin! ‘Mione, love.”

Harry lingered back by the door as he felt like he was intruding on a personal moment between the two of them. Ron was gently rubbing Hermione’s stomach and smiling at her serenely. For a split second he felt a wave of loneliness crash over him before shaking it off, guilt taking over him instead.

“Mate, I’m glad you’re okay. I-I’m sorry-“

Ron’s hard glare stopped Harry mid-sentence, “Harry, do not say you are sorry to me. We both know the risks we take when we go on missions. I was too excited that we were finally having some actions after all the days of nothing, I should’ve went in with more caution.”

Harry’s breath whooshed out of him as he realized how relieved he was to know that Ron was not blaming him. “Thanks.”

The two men shared a grin and Hermione shook her head fondly at them. “Did they say why you were placed in this ward?”

“Something about them being concerned with future unknown side effects since they don’t know what I was hit with in the first place.”

Now that Harry had a chance to stop and look at his best mate, he felt his stomach twist uncomfortably when he noticed how weak the man looked. “How are you feeling?”

Ron shrugged his shoulders and began to cough violently into his hands, his whole body shaking with the effort. When he pulled his hands away from his face, they were coated in blood. Before anyone in the room could react, he began violently convulsing on his bed.

“Ron!” Hermione frantically pushed the nurse call button, “Ron, love.”

Harry shook himself and quickly removed his robe and placed it under Ron’s head. He was trying to remember everything he could from the Healer classes they made Aurors take.

A team of Healers quickly entered the room and ushered Harry and Hermione out. “Please, we will let you know when you can come back in.”

“Healer Row, he’s crashing.”

“Out! Now.”

Before either of them could respond they were pushed aside by another Healer rushing inside and the door slammed shut behind him.

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione sobbed and leaned into him, her bushy hair tickling the bottom of his chin.

“I know, ‘Mione, I know.” He let his body relax into hers as they shared their quiet embrace. Guilt started filling his stomach until he felt his eyes burning, and quickly blinked the sensation away. "I'm so sorry." 


	2. Chapter Two

* * *

Harry and Hermione stayed outside Ron’s room, waiting for any type of update.

“Harry, I’ve never seen a reaction like that from any type of spell or curse. I have no clue what it could be.”

“The man cast the curse wordlessly, but his wand movements were not ones that I recognized.”

Hermione leaned over and rested her head on Harry while she gently rubbed her stomach. Harry smiled warmly at her, it always made him happy when another baby was getting added to the family. “How’s little Rose doing in there?”

“I think she can feel my worry, she’s so restless tonight,” Hermione answered tiredly, “I’m trying my best to stay calm for her.”

Harry, once again, felt guilt wash over him. Not only was one of his best friends in a hospital bed with an unknown curse wracking his body, the one standing next to him was carrying his unborn goddaughter and worrying herself sick.

“Harry, I know what you’re thinking. You always furrow your eyebrows when you get worried. Like Ron said earlier, please don’t blame yourself,” Hermione spoke gently to him, but then her voice became stern, “and please promise me you will not do anything stupid trying to catch these people. Promise me.”

He looked down at Hermione and saw the seriousness in her eyes, “I promise.” He mentally crossed his fingers behind his back because Harry knew that that was not a promise he could make.

She gave him a doubtful look before deciding to drop the subject and conjured a chair for herself. “My back can only take so much standing nowadays.”

Harry grinned at her and rubbed her stomach softly. “I doubt this is going to be your last experience with that. You’ll have a clan that rivals Molly.”  
Hermione gave him a well-placed punch. “Ha-ha.”

Their brief moment of happiness disappeared suddenly when Ron’s door opened and Healer Row came out with a weary face.

“Mrs. Granger- Weasley, may I speak with you privately?”  
Hermione glanced up at Harry before looking back at the Healer. “Anything you need to tell me Auror Potter is welcome to hear as well.”

Row nodded seriously to both of them. “We were forced to place Auror Weasley in a magically induced coma. He was losing blood internally at a rapid rate which we were not aware of until he began seizing. We performed several diagnostic tests to try and locate where the blood loss is coming from and it seems that his brain is hemorrhaging.”

Hermione was still sitting in her chair, but she reached up to squeeze Harry’s hand. “Have you ever seen a curse that inflicts this type of damage?”

The Healer shook his head slowly. “No, we haven’t, but we are going to do everything we can to try and figure this out.” Then he  paused for a moment with an unsure expression clouding his face. “…one more thing, Mrs. Granger-Weasely-“

“Hermione, please call me Hermione.”

“Hermione,” the Healer corrected himself with a small smile, “I’m not sure how it is possible, but during the diagnostic test it seemed that his magical ability was also…I’m not sure how to phrase this properly. It seemed that he was also losing his magic.”

Hermione’s face tightened as she tried to stop her tears, and his heart broke when he saw how small she suddenly looked. A strong desire to protect her overcame Harry, and he vowed he would.

"I’m going to figure out how to help him, Hermione. You have my word,” he whispered to her and then looked back up at the Healer.

“Since I am the Auror running the case now, I would like to request to receive updates as well. It is important we monitor even the smallest of changes to try and figure this out.”

The Healer nodded and brought out Ron’s file. “That is understood, Auror Potter, but I just need Mrs-I mean, Hermione, to give consent to this as well.”

When Hermione gave a small nod, the Healer wrote the note down in his file.

“‘Mione, I have to go. I’m so sorry. I told Auror Rogers I would report back to her with news as soon as I had any.”

“That’s okay, Harry. I’m going to go floo Molly so she can tell everyone, and I’m sure she’ll come stay here with me.”

Harry felt slightly relieved knowing that Hermione would not be left alone at the hospital and walked up to Ron’s file to make a copy of it with his wand.

"Do you want me to stay until Molly gets here?”

Hermione smiled at him and shook her head. “You better get going. Rogers does not seem like she enjoys waiting too long.”

Harry laughed and gave her a quick hug before apparating to the Auror Headquarters. He quickly regretted the location he appeared in when he saw Auror Wrice brightly smile his way, Harry returned the smile and took off in the direction of his office.

Wrice was the only other gay wizard that Harry knew of, and ever since he came out it seemed like the other man felt they were destined to be together. It’s not that he was bad looking, he just wasn’t exactly Harry’s type. Wrice had long brown hair that he wore tied back, and bright blue eyes. He was taller than Harry, but reminded him somewhat of a bean stock. When he noticed Wrice trying to catch up to him, he slowed his steps down, but not by much.

“Potter,” He said with a bright grin on his face. “Rogers has been looking for you.”

Harry grimaced to himself. “Thanks, Wrice. I’ll head that way now.”

Wrice winked at him before heading the opposite direction. “Good luck, Potter.”

When Harry reached Auror Rogers’ office he hesitated at the door before knocking lightly.

“Come in.”

Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the door and immediately began the spiel he had been practicing on the walk over.

“I’m sorry for being so late, Auror Rogers. I just really didn’t feel comfortable leaving Hermione at the hospital alone and-“

“Potter,” Rogers interrupted. “No need to explain, I understand this is a stressful situation for the people you’re close to.”

“Thank you,” Harry murmured, slightly embarrassed.

It was times like these that he felt very grateful to have a boss like Rogers. Her office was minimally decorated, but she did have one photograph angled on the desk that only faced her. Harry still hadn’t been able to catch a glance of what the photograph was.

She was an older woman, most likely in her early fifties with short grey hair. From what he heard around the office, she was unmarried and had no children, but was extremely dedicated to her career. Her face held a severe intensity, but on rare occasions, like the one Harry was in, he was surprised to remember that she was not always in Auror mode. She obviously was genuinely upset about what had happened to one of her Aurors.

He was also surprised to realize that she reminded him a bit of a sterner Dumbledore. She quirked her lips at him, which he took as a smile as he sat down across from her.

“I scanned a copy of Auror Weasley’s file for you to read over. I also requested the Healers keep us updated on any changes that may happen, which Mrs. Granger-Weasley agreed to.”

As Harry spoke he motioned his wand in the air and brought up Ron’s file. He quieted down and gave Rogers a moment to read over it. “So, sound like anything you’ve…”

Harry trailed off when he saw Rogers shaking her head slowly, a disturbed look on her face.

“I have never seen wizards being drained of their magic. Understanding the core of where magic comes from is way out of my area of expertise, it is a very complicated line of study.” She paused momentarily as if thinking about how she would approach her next idea.

“I think it would be best to get a consultant to help you with this case, but Potter, I need to know that you are going to work with them and not against them. I understand that it is hard for Aurors to work with someone who is not their assigned partner, but professionalism is still required.”

Rogers fixed a stern look at Harry and he fought the desire to squirm under her intense gaze.

“Of course, Auror Rogers.”

What was that suppose to mean?

She nodded briefly and then wrote something down on a piece of paper before folding it up and sealing it.

“Take this to the Artifact Collections department and give this to the secretary at the desk.”

Harry left her office confused, but nonetheless set out on what he was supposed to do.

“It would help if I knew who I was going to see.” He mumbled under his breath.

“Talking to yourself, Potter?” Wrice asked with a smirk on his face. “Rogers really gotten to you, eh?”

Harry really did not feel like dealing with Wrice’s sad, and obvious attempts at flirting with him, again. “No, she wasn’t upset at all actually.”

He groaned internally when he saw Wrice scanning his body, realizing that he had left his robe with Ron at the hospital. His chest tightened when he thought of Ron, and he quickly tried to shake the feeling. “I gotta get going though.”

“You look stressed, Potter. Maybe we could get some drinks after work, blow off some steam.”

Harry prayed that he imagined the leer at the end of the sentence. “Err, not the best time, Wrice. I’m going to be pretty busy with this case…”

“Pencil me in for celebratory drinks when you solve it then!” Wrice insisted cheerily. It was in these moments that Harry had wished he never outed himself.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Harry quickly made his way to the elevator and hoped that Wrice was not checking out his arse as he was walking away. He pressed level four and tried to calm his nerves on the ride up.

He was still trying to figure out why Rogers had specifically asked him to remain professional, had he given her a reason to believe he was not? Probably for showing up late, he thought to himself.

\-----

 

Once the doors opened he was immediately met with a bustling environment, and quickly had to duck to avoid being hit by a flying teacup.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” A small wizard squeaked, while freezing the object in midair “A huge case of bewitched objects just came in and when we opened the box they all came flying out…”

The young man trailed off when he spotted Harry’s scar. “Mr. Potter! Wow, it is such an honor to meet you!“

Harry awkwardly returned the eager handshake he was given. “Thank you…”

“Alberstein!”

“Thank you, Alberstein. Could you please direct me to the main desk?”

After several more handshakes, Alberstein led him over to a plump woman with a plaque on her desk reading Mrs. Wendall , and she did not seemed slightly bothered by all the chaos taking place around her.

“Good afternoon, Auror Potter. How may I help you?”

The older woman smiled at him, but Harry noticed her eyes flicking briefly up to his scar. Purely out of habit, he shook his hair to try and cover it before handing her the note from Auror Rogers.

“Afternoon, ma’am. Auror Rogers has asked me to deliver this to you, saying you would understand what to do with it.”

Mrs. Wendall silently read the letter before mumbling something under her breath and Harry looked on in surprise has the letter began shrinking until it disappeared entirely.

“Instructions at the end of the note,” she explained. “Anyway, just follow this hallway down until you see room seventeen, once inside just request to speak with the head of the department and he can help you from there.”

Harry nodded, biting down his irritation at once again being kept out of the loop. The further he walked down the hallway, the more his mood seemed to worsen. When he finally reached room seventeen he had to resist the urge to slam through the door.

“I need to speak with the head of this department,” Harry demanded, and then felt bad for taking out his irritation on someone he didn’t know. “Please,” he added.

The young lady pointed to a door behind her and Harry walked over to it, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Before he could reach his hand up to knock the door swung open.

A drawling voice greeted him. “Ah, Potter, harassing my employees, I see.”

Harry stared at the man in front of him before actually groaning out loud.

He had just walked straight into Draco Malfoy’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone that has taken the time to read this. I really appreciate it. I also hope you enjoyed this chapter too!


	3. Chapter Three

“Malfoy?” Harry chocked out when he regained his composure. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I seem to be in my office with a blundering idiot standing in front of me. Better question is what are _you_ doing here?”

Harry could feel his blood pounding, trust it to be Malfoy to make him lose his cool. All of the sudden a glass of water on Malfoy’s desk exploded. “I-I’m sorry, I haven’t lost control like that in a very long time…” Harry tried to explain lamely.

“Interesting,” Malfoy murmured. “Were you upset as you walked to my office, the feelings coming on suddenly?”

“Err, why?” When Harry was met with silence he sighed loudly. “Yes, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Only Harry Potter,” Malfoy said, laughing softly and not explaining further. “I’m sorry, it seems we haven’t formally introduced ourselves. You know who I am, what I am running though is the subdivision of Magical Artifacts, I specifically work with Dark Artifacts.”

Harry opened his mouth to reply with a scathing comment about how typical that seemed, but Malfoy beat him to it.

“Before you decide to make any remarks about my family or my past, Potter, do not. You are obviously here on Auror business and need my help, which I am not required to give you. I worked hard after The War to build myself and reputation back up and I will not have the Precious Savior coming in and demeaning everything I have done.”

Malfoy spoke his words without malice or bite, but his face showed that he was prepared to defend himself if he needed to. It suddenly made sense why Rogers had asked Harry to behave maturely, and he would respect that wish. Harry bit his tongue and decided not to pick this specific battle.

“No, you’re right, I do need your help. Did Auror Rogers send any information to you?”

As Harry spoke, he noticed that Malfoy’s face had relaxed when he discovered that the Auror was not here to belittle him. Harry was also shocked to realize how attractive he found the man across from him to be. The sneer he often wore at Hogwarts was gone replaced by a confident smirk, and his demeanor was one of confidence as well.

His blond hair was cut short, but framed his face in a way that accented his sharp features. He stood taller than Harry and was built slim, but Harry was sure he could see defined muscles underneath his shirt. His legs were being squeezed by tight trousers, and if Harry looked long enough he could envision the perfect “V” his hips formed into. His chest was hidden under a black shirt that defined his broad shoulders. Harry kept moving up the man’s chest and was surprised to realize that piercing grey eyes were peering into his with amusement, a smile tugging on his cheeks.

“Done with your inspection, or did you need to do a pat down too, _Auror_?”

Harry was sure that Malfoy had purred the last part of his sentence and flushed with embarrassment at being caught staring so intensely. Harry could not remember the last time he had looked at another person the way he just did with Malfoy.

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Harry snapped, more out of embarrassment than actual anger.

“To answer your previous questions, yes, Auror Rogers has given me details of the case. Let’s get started then, I’ll explain why she wants you to work with me specifically.”

Harry nodded and sat down in the chair Malfoy motioned to. “Please do. She hasn’t really given me any further information on what she thinks Ron’s condition may be.”

“After The War, my family was shunned from the wizarding world, as you know. In my free time, I began to study more about the roots of magic, and where it began. Granted, most of the books the manor had were geared more to a…Pureblood point of view.”

Malfoy paused to assess Harry’s reaction, but he just motioned for him to continue, his expression tightening slightly.

“I had a chance to look over Weasley’s file and I think I have an idea of what may be happening to him. Dark Magic leaves a powerful after effect on the victim, which the Healer noted in his reports, but most likely did not know how to explain it to you or where it had even come from. Weasley has been hit with a very ancient and powerful curse that Purebloods are usually not affected by. What happens is, the victim’s ‘magical’ part of the soul is literally ripped away from the entirety of the soul. It would feel like losing a piece of who you are, the person would never feel the same again”

“I’m not sure that I’m following…” Harry responded, trying to ignore the eye roll he received. “Are you saying that someone _took_ Ron’s magic away?”

“In a way, why I said that Pureblood’s aren’t usually affected is because our magic is deeply ingrained into our souls and our lineage. Ron is still alive because he has such a strong magical core. The spell was not meant to be cast on him. While you, for example, are a Half-Blood meaning that your magic is still just as powerful and effective, but you’re half muggle side creates a weak spot in the core of your magic. I know this is complicated and sounds insulting, but this is very ancient and dark magic we are dealing with. No one in their right mind would even attempt to try and-“ 

“And what about Muggle Borns? Hermione for example, is she in any immediate danger?”

“Muggle Borns were the reason this curse was created. Hundreds of years ago, Pure Bloods believed that they were being robbed of their magic when mixed wizards became more apparent. They saw Half Bloods and Muggle Borns as a disgrace to wizarding society. In an attempt to rid them, this curse was born. It was never enacted, and if it was, it failed.”

Harry was still trying to wrap his head around all the information he was being given.  “So, to summarize what you explained to me, some group is targeting everyone that is not Pureblood to try and recreate a ‘pure’ wizarding society?”

Malfoy nodded gravely. “It seems that way. This has to be a group of extremely skilled wizards, specifically in the dark arts. The things this curse requires you to do are absolutely appalling. The goal of it is that once the magic has been stolen from the witch or wizard, you bind their magical core to some type of object and you possess control over it.”

“It’s obvious you are very well educated in that area of magic,” Harry began, smirking when Malfoy glared harshly at him. “Why do we need to work together though?”

“And it’s disgustingly obvious how uneducated you are in understanding magical roots.” Malfoy retorted. “Just accept the fact that you need me.”

“I don’t need you, Malfoy,” Harry said harshly. “Auror Rogers seems to think you can provide help on this case. I will not go against her.”

“Aww, there’s that undying Gryffindor loyalty.”

“At least I know what side to be loyal to.”

Harry instantly regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth. Before he had a chance to apologize, Malfoy had his wand out and pointed directly at him. “Get. Out.”

“Malfoy, listen-“

“No, you are still the same self-centered, righteous prat that thought he owned the halls of Hogwarts. Expecting everyone to bend over backwards for anything you needed. Not everyone admires you, Potter,” Malfoy spat out, his face flushing with anger. “I will ask you one more time to leave my office or I will do something that one of us will regret.”

Harry stood up and walked towards the exit, as he reached the door he turned around to face his old rival. “I’m sorry, Malfoy.”

Not giving him a chance to respond Harry opened the door and walked out, not noticing the way the grey-eyed man’s face had contorted in confusion.

Harry knew he’d have hell to pay when he made it back to Rogers office. Malfoy had obviously known what he was talking about, but Harry couldn’t resist the urge to lash out at the man.

* * *

 

“Potter, wait,” A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks. “I know it is not going to be easy for us to work together, too much old blood, but I shouldn’t have kicked you out of my office.”

Harry almost asked if that was what Malfoy considered to be an apology, but assumed he better keep his mouth shut, instead he nodded.

“The reason you were so angry in the Dark Artifacts area is because your magic is a lot more tuned in to sensing Dark magic because you lived with it inside you. It affects every wizard differently, I should’ve explained that to you.”

Harry was once again dumbfounded at what he considered Malfoy’s second apology in about a five minute time span.

“Careful, Potter. I think I see some drool coming on.”

Harry snapped his mouth shut and glared at the man in front of him. “If we’re going to do anymore consulting we should do it in a different area then.”

“Okay, we can do that,” Malfoy said nodding, pausing to think for a moment. “I’m pretty sure there are empty offices on the seventh floor, we can just use one of those.”

“Great, sounds like a plan.” On instinct, Harry stuck his hand out and was instantly taken back to the moment where he rejected Malfoy’s hand in Madam Malkin’s Robe Shop. He knew that this could be the instant where Malfoy told him to shove it and walk away, but to his surprise, Malfoy returned the shake with a strong grip. Harry swore he felt a ripple of magic pass between them, but ignored it when Malfoy’s expression turned to one of indifference.

“I’ll owl you.” He said quickly and then turned around and headed towards his office, not looking back.

Harry must have stood there for a good five minutes before he began to make his way back towards the elevator.

_What did he just agree to?_


	4. Chapter Four

The rest of the day for Harry flew by in a blur, he went and reported back to Rogers about how the consultation had went and finished up the evening doing paperwork. He had repeatedly gotten distracted from his work by images of pouty pink lips and blond hair flashing through his mind. Groaning into his hands, he finally gave up for the night and left for the hospital.

When he walked into Ron’s room he was immediately swept into a tight hug by Mrs. Weasley. “Oh, Harry! Ron is so lucky to have you as a partner.”

The smaller man shifted uncomfortably at her words, but returned her embrace. “How’s he doing? Where’s Hermione?”

Molly had finally let Harry go and they both walked over to the red-heads bed. His chest rose and fell in an even rhythm, but that was the only part of him that moved. If someone didn’t know better it would just seem as if the man was sleeping peacefully.

“Gin took Hermione home to get some rest, and Arthur is working a late shift tonight, but he’ll be here soon.”

As Molly spoke she stroked Ron’s hair softly with one hand and held his hand with her free one. “Harry, dear, don’t sugarcoat it for me, but do you think Ron will be okay?”

Harry knew that if he lied she’d be able to tell, but the young man was also not ready to admit the truth to himself either. That he honestly didn’t know what would happen to Ron.

“I can’t answer that, Molly…” Harry said slowly. “But I can tell you that I am going to do everything to make him better.”

Mrs. Weasley seemed satisfied with the answer and returned her attention back to Ron. “Have they given you a new partner?”

“Err, not quite. I think Rogers knows I wouldn’t work too well with another Auror,” Harry gave a small smile when he earned a laugh from her. “But, they did give me a consultant to work with.” Mrs. Weasely raised her eyebrows at him as if asking who. “Umm, they paired me with Draco Malfoy, from school. He works in the Artifacts Department, specifically with Dark Artifacts.”

He had expected some type of harsh reaction or a sound of disapproval, but she just nodded her head instead. “Arthur has told me he does excellent work in his field. It’s too bad that the Ministry doesn’t give him the proper credit for it.”

Harry was sure he stood there with his mouth open again for the second time of the night.

“Dear, close your mouth before a fly gets in there,” Molly said affectionately. “It is common knowledge that the Malfoy name doesn’t get a positive reaction, but Draco seems to regret his actions from the war. Do you know, maybe about three years ago now, he flooed over to The Burrow looking a right mess and apologized. I probably had the same expression on my face that you just did a moment ago.”

“Malfoy _apologized_?” Harry said, his voice betraying his surprise. “Wow.”

Before Molly could respond, Arthur came bursting inside the room. “Molly, love. Sorry I’m late.”

He kissed her on the cheek before turning around and clapping Harry on the back. “Harry, m’boy. Ron is lucky to have you.”

Harry, once again, shifted uncomfortably at being complimented so earnestly. “Thank you, Arthur. I think I’m going to swing by and check on Hermione before it gets too late.”

He waved goodbye at the Weasley’s before stepping out of the room to take a look at Ron’s chart. It didn’t look like anything had changed since earlier in the day and Harry couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing

Harry apparated outside Hermione’s front door and knocked loudly. “Come in!” Ginny shouted.

He walked inside and smiled when he caught the aroma of cooking food. “’Mione in the kitchen?”

Ginny rolled her eyes affectionately and nodded. “Said she wasn’t tired and I have banned her from doing any research. So, she resorted to cooking.”

Harry was grateful that the younger red-head didn’t hate him, with all reason she could. He knew she thought that after the war had ended they’d be able to live out their ‘happily ever after’. It didn’t work out that way though, she was the first he had come out to, and instead of rejecting him or running away in disgust, she supported him coming out to everyone else. Afterwards, she took some time away and ended up pursuing her Quidditch career, something that was going very well for her. Harry knew he would always love for her, but as a sister, not as a partner.

“Harry?” Hermione said walking out of the kitchen, flour spread throughout her hair. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came by to check on you. I wanted to make sure you were holding up alright.”

At that, Hermione rushed over and gave him a tight hug, laughing when he tried to wipe off the flour she had gotten on his face. “Do you want some food? Merlin knows I’ve made more of it than I know what to do with. Before he could answer she rushed back into the kitchen and came out levitating at least four platters in front of her.

“I made lamb chops, stew, steak and kidney pudding, and a pie for dessert.”

Harry’s mouth immediately began watering and he realized he hadn’t ate since earlier that morning. “Blimey, ‘Mione, you’re really trying to give Molly a run for her money.”

The rest of the night the three of them ate and tried to talk about everything that didn’t circle back to Ron being in the hospital. Eventually, Hermione excused herself for bed and gave him and Ginny a hug.

“You’ll watch her?” Harry asked Ginny as he was walking to the fireplace.

“Of course, you need to get some rest too, Harry.”

They exchanged goodbyes and Harry flooed to Grimmauld Place. He was slowly doing renovations on the house to make it cozier. He had finished the main floor by removing all the walls that separated the rooms and his bedroom was also complete. He still had to do the two upper floors. By pure luck and frustration, Harry had been able to remove the portrait of Walburga Black that had hung in the entrance hallway. In a fit of anger, Harry had vanished her with his wand, but had no idea where she went. It didn’t bother him too much. 

Harry walked up the staircase leading to his room and was surprised to see an owl perched on his windowsill.

“Hello there,” He murmured and plucked up a few treats that he kept on his nightstand. “What do we have here?”

Harry had never gotten another owl after Hedwig, it felt like he was betraying an old friend, but he had a soft spot for them still. He took the letter from the owl and ruffled its feathers, when it didn’t leave right away he assumed it was waiting for him to reply.

_Potter,_

_I would like to start our research tomorrow at noon. Please owl back if that is a convenient time for you. If so, let’s meet on the seventh floor by the elevators._

_PS. Her name is Edna._

_Malfoy_

Harry scribbled out a quick reply agreeing to the time and sent Edna off with a few more treats. As Harry fell asleep he felt his stomach tightening and he wasn’t sure if it was from nerves or excitement.

Harry woke up hard, but refused to relieve himself because all he kept seeing when he closed his eyes was a tall, blond man that had piercing grey eyes.

_Bloody hell, it’s probably because I fell asleep thinking about today._

He was trying to rationalize why he would dream about Malfoy of all people, _and_ in a sexual manner. Granted, he wouldn’t deny that Malfoy was the star of his wank fantasies during his Hogwarts years, but that was only because after every fight they had it got Harry’s blood pumping and sent to _specific_ areas of his body. It was never out of attraction. At least that was what Harry tried to tell himself.

He groaned and took a cold, quick shower to calm himself down. Harry tried to ignore the fact that he spent extra time on his hair, and picked a tighter pair of jeans than he normally would. _I just want to make a good impression._

* * *

 

Harry arrived promptly at noon on the seventh floor and was surprised to be met with a glare from Malfoy as soon as the elevator doors opened.

“Potter.”

“Err, yes?”

“Always expect people to be kept waiting for you,” Malfoy said dryly and began walking away, his hips swaying in a way that Harry found very distracting.

“What! You said noon, it is currently noon, Malfoy.” Harry snapped back, jogging to keep up pace with the taller man, but staying back far enough that he could still watch him walk.

“Most people arrive early when they’re given a set time.”

“Most people or just you?” Harry grumbled under his breath while he ignored the sharp look he was given.

Malfoy kept walking until they reached the last office on the floor and shrugged at Harry’s questioning look. “I figured it would give us some privacy.”

Harry nodded and tried to stop his mind from reading deeper into those words, but from the look on Malfoy’s face he knew exactly where his mind had went. “Nice pants by the way, Potter.” He added with a wink before walking inside.

Harry felt his face flush and followed the blond inside before he could make another remark about him. Both men sat down across from each other, and Malfoy busied himself with pulling out paperwork and books.

“So, yesterday after you left I continued to look over Weasley’s file and I jotted down some particular things in there that I thought would be of interest.”

Harry nodded and pulled out the folder he had brought with him. “The reason I was not an hour early like you,” he said sarcastically, “was because I stopped by at the hospital and picked up the report of Ron’s first night there and how he was doing today.”

Harry felt satisfied when he saw Malfoy’s cheeks turn slightly pink. “Anyway, I glanced over them on the ride up and I noticed that they were able to stabilize Ron’s magic. It looks like it isn’t draining anymore, and what confuses me is that it looks like it was all returned. When I saw that I compared it to the overnight tests that were done on him, and if you look here,” Harry leaned over towards Malfoy and tried to control his breathing, the man smelled like a combination of expensive cologne and strawberry jam. “I, umm, I noticed that overnight you can see his magic levels increasing slowly, and eventually stabilizing.”

He accidentally brushed Malfoy’s hand with his when he was pointing to the chart and was surprised to feel that same ripple of magic pass through him again. He looked up and found grey-eyes staring directly into his. He was having a hard time trying to decipher the look he was receiving. Attraction? Lust? Arousal? Harry felt his stomach flip, he knew it was wishful thinking. He also knew that he didn’t want to be the first to look away, but he also didn’t want to not look away. The choice was chosen for him when Malfoy stood up suddenly and cleared his throat. “Good observation, Potter. I was worried this would happen.”

“Worried? Shouldn’t we be relieved it isn’t draining his magic anymore?”

Malfoy shook his head slowly, and Harry thought he saw a flicker of concern pass over his expression. “Like I was explaining to you yesterday, the curse doesn’t work on Pure Bloods. It rebounded because it cannot drain the magic from Weasley and is now going after the next thing that it can sense is alive.”

Harry’s heart was pounding in his chest. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m not sure how to phrase this gently, but it means that the curse is going to try and drain his life source away. I have a feeling if you look at his brain monitoring’s you’ll see that those are now changing.”

Harry began rapidly flipping through the files and felt his heart sinking the longer he continued to stare. “Fuck!” He slammed his hand down on the table and sent all the papers flying, feeling guilty when he saw Malfoy flinch away from him. “I’m sorry. I-I just wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“I’m sorry, Potter,” Malfoy said with a gentle voice, reaching his hand towards Harry before he thought better of it and pulled it away. “I know how close you two are. I’m not sure if you’re aware that Granger and I are actually good friends, when she worked here we did a lot of Ministry work together. So, please know that I will be doing my best to try and save Weasley.”

Harry shook his head slowly at the news. “I didn’t know that. She mentioned you two often worked together, but I didn’t know it was more than a work relationship.”

“Oh, nothing like that, Potter,” Malfoy said with a small laugh. “I don’t bat for her team anyway.”

“I, umm, I didn’t know that.” Harry wasn’t sure why that news sent his head spinning and his heart pounding. Maybe Malfoy would return the attraction.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go after the Precious Savior.”

Malfoy’s face had become guarded and his tone was clipped. Harry stumbled over himself trying to correct what he said. “No! I didn’t mean it like that,” He said quickly. “I like boys too! Men, I like men. Grown men. I err, this is coming out all wrong.”

Malfoy smiled at him, but didn’t say anything. He realized he really liked making the blond smile. When it was genuine, his eyes would crinkle at the corners and his eyes lit up.

“Back to work, Potter,” Malfoy said while pushing a book at him. “The curse is called _Tantum Purus_ _,_ which translates to ‘Only Pure’, basically a society with only pure blood. I want you to look in the book and see if you can find any reversal charms. Any powerful curse like this always has a fallback plan, which is where a reversal charm would come in.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon working in silence, occasionally showing the other if they thought they found something important. Harry finally got up to stretch his legs and felt frustrated that they still had not found anything that could help Ron.

“Hey, Malfoy?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there an owl about to come flying directly through the window or are my eyes tricking me?”

As Harry stood and watched he realized there was an owl coming straight this way. There were no openings in the windows, as they were floor to ceiling.

“I think that’s your owl actually, Malfoy.”

At that comment Draco stood up to join him by the window. “Edna? I haven’t sent her off with anything though.”

Harry grabbed his wand and motioned it at a panel of the glass, laughing triumphantly when it disappeared.

“Only Harry Potter could do that.” Draco said with something that sounded strangely like affection in his voice. He took the letter from Edna and began reading.

Harry felt worry ripple through him as he noticed Malfoy’s face falling the longer he read it.

“Mal-Draco? What’s going on?”

“It’s my mother, she’s just been admitted to St. Mungos. It-it seems that four masked wizards attacked her outside the manor while she was taking care of her rose garden. They somehow got past the wards and snuck up on her. She said she doesn’t want to write in the letter what they asked her to do and that she’ll explain when I’m there.”

“Merlin, Malfoy. Did she say how she was doing?”

“No, just come immediately.” 

Draco folded up the letter and began gathering his things together. “I’m sorry, Potter. I need to go to her. We can meet here the same time tomorrow to keep going over Weasley’s case. I will also continue-“

Harry cut him short when he started shaking his head at him. “I’ll go with you, Malfoy. If that’s okay?” He added quickly, not wanting to sound presumptuous. “I’m an Auror, I’ll be able to take notes and access information for you, if needed.”

Malfoy nodded at him slowly, and then smiled softly at him, making Harry’s heart skip a beat. 

“Only you, Potter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy with all the positive feedback I am getting, thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Comments and Kudos are always appreciated.


	5. Chapter Five

Harry and Draco walked silently side by side, but the smaller man was having a hard time ignoring all the stares he was getting. He wasn’t embarrassed to be walking along side Draco, but he always felt uncomfortable under scrutiny.

“Just ignore them, Potter. The Golden Boy and an Ex-Death Eater walking together is probably hard to swallow.”

Harry bit back a smile at those words. “I do suppose we are an interesting sight.”

When they reached Narcissa’s room, Harry hesitated at the door. “Do you want to ask her first if it’s okay that I come in? I’ll technically be here on Auror duty.”

“She’ll be fine with it, Potter.”

Harry walked in behind Draco and stood leaning against the wall, again feeling like he was invading on a private moment between two people.

“Draco,” Narcissa said warmly, “thank you for coming so quickly. I hope you weren’t too busy.”

“Of course, mother,” Draco replied, he leaned down and kissed her on both cheeks before turning around to look at Harry. “Potter came along so he could take down a few notes about what happened.”

“Mr. Potter, what a pleasure,” Narcissa said while straightening up. Harry smiled lightly when he noticed how elegant she still looked in a hospital bed. “You may come all the way in.”

The smaller man blushed at the words but walked closer to the end of her bed. “Sorry, I didn’t want to intrude.” He pulled a notebook out from his back pocket. “Mrs. Malfoy could you please start from the beginning about what happened. Also, make sure to include all the details, even ones that may not seem important to you.”

Narcissa nodded her head and motioned for Draco to sit next to her. Both Malfoys instinctively reached for the other’s hand, and Harry smiled at the sight, chuckling when Draco blushed.

“The day started off as any ordinary day. I woke up, took my medicine, then went downstairs to eat breakfast.”

Harry was nodding along as she spoke. “And the food tasted okay? Nothing different?”

Narcissa paused for a moment to think. “Actually, the house-elf that generally serves breakfast was not there that morning. I didn’t think too much of it, sometimes they switch off.”

“Alright, do you know this house-elf’s name?”

“Yes, her name is Twire.” Harry quickly wrote down the name and then motioned for her to continue speaking. “After breakfast, I did a few things around the manor to keep myself occupied. Then, at about one o’clock is when I went outside to begin gardening. I started at the front of the manor and eventually worked my way around back, which is where my rose garden is.”

“While you were outside you didn’t notice anyone unusual in the area?” Harry asked, still trying to piece together how the intruders made it past the wards.

“I did not, but my rose garden is up against the far fence of the manor, so my back was turned away. I felt them enter the grounds before I actually saw them. From their build, I would say it was all men. They were wearing average wizard cloaks, but their faces…”

Narcissa trailed off and Draco rubbed her hand softly. “It’s okay, mother. Take your time.”

“It-it just reminded me so much of Death Eater masks, but it only covered their eyes.” The woman gave a barely noticeable shiver, and Draco was looking at Harry as if trying to decipher his reaction to her speaking of their past. “They were plain masks, pure white.”

The use of her word pure nagged in Harry’s mind. “Did they have any distinguishable facial features?

Narcissa shook her head. “They all stood in a straight line, but one of them stepped forward and told me they were an organization working towards a goal I might find appealing.”

“Did he say any names? Or did his voice sound familiar?” Harry questioned, his mind still trying to put together all the pieces. A group that wore pure white masks?

“Not at all, his voice actually sounded young, like yours or Draco’s. He explained that my connection to the Dark Lord made him believe that we had the same values. He spoke of the dirty blood that many witches and wizards possessed and how his group was working to rectify that.”

Harry and Draco shared a meaningful look and Harry realized there was no way this could be a coincidence with Ron’s case. It must be the same group.

“He then requested a large sum of gold from me and claimed that it would go directly to their work. He continued by asking for my help in locating very, very dark artifacts. Ones that no wizard should _want_ to find. When I kindly rejected their offer and asked them to leave my property, one of them became visibly upset. I had no chance to draw my wand before all of theirs were out.”

Harry noticed Draco’s face tighten and he resisted the urge to comfort the man. “One man quickly pointed his wand directly at me before another one grabbed his hand. They all turned away and began speaking between themselves. I tried to reach slowly into my robes to draw my wand but they all turned back around at that point.”

Narcissa took a deep breath and winced, something that did not go unnoticed by Draco.

“Do you need more medicine, mother?”

“No, my dragon,” Narcissa answered softly and kissed his hand. “They began calling me a ‘blood traitor’, saying I was a disgrace to my lineage and fellow Purebloods. Then the one who had initially began talking took his wand and slashed downwards. I started bleeding from my chest and then all the men walked off manor grounds. I called out for my other house elf Miny and I assume I fainted because when I woke up I was here.”

Harry nodded and closed his notebook, trying to digest all the information. “Thank you for all the help, Mrs. Malfoy.” He gestured to the door. “I’ll be taking my leave now, I hope you have a good rest of your night.”

Harry left the room and made a copy of Mrs. Malfoy’s file in order to compare it to Ron’s, when he turned around he was surprised to find Malfoy standing behind him.

“It was the same curse they used on Weasley, but my mother is different, Potter…”

“Excuse me, Malfoy?” Harry snapped. “Ron is just as important as your mother-“

“No, Potter,” the blond replied tiredly, “I mean, my mother spent time in Azkaban, long enough that it weakened her magical core. She is not as powerful as Weasley, she can’t fight this like he can.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mal-Draco,” Harry corrected himself, it seemed like too personal of a situation to refer to Draco as his surname. “I promised Hermione I would help Ron, and that promise also extends to you now too.”

Harry was hoping he wasn’t imagining it, but he thought he saw a look of affection cross Draco’s face. He wanted to lean in and kiss the other man, but Malfoy clasped Harry’s arm tightly with his hands and for some reason it felt more intimate than a kiss would have. “Thank you, Harry.”

Malfoy smiled slightly at Harry before going back to his mother and Harry walked down the hallway to Ron’s room, his arm still tingling where Malfoy had touched.

* * *

 

Harry had stepped into Ron’s room and talked to him for a bit, fully knowing that he couldn’t reply to him, but it helped Harry to think aloud.  He copied Ron’s updated chart and headed home. When he got home, he made himself a quick sandwich and spread the files out on his kitchen table to compare the tests. They matched up with almost exact consistency, but it seemed Draco had been right about his mother being weaker. Ron’s brain activity was the same as it had been last time, but the situation was reversed with Mrs. Malfoy. Her magic being the thing weakened. Harry pushed the files aside and began reading one of the books Draco had lent him.  

It explained the curse in great detail and once the pre-requisites for activating the curse had been met the entire group had to perform a blood ritual. It tied the curse into their magical cores and their wands. _Which also explained how they could wordlessly cast it_ , Harry thought to himself.

The people who were on the receiving end of the curse had their magic drained from them, and the castor was then required to bind their victim’s magical core to an item the castor easily had access to. When they did that it gave the castor full control over the magic they had stolen.

If Harry was predicting correctly than this curse took at least a year to gather all the proper ingredients, and then another few months to finish all the blood rituals. Who knew how long this group had been in action without anyone knowing? Harry felt like he was onto something big and decided to take a quick shower and head over to the Auror Headquarters.

* * *

 

He was surprised to see Auror Rogers’ office light still on and out of curiosity, walked closer to it to see if he could hear anything.

“Come in, Potter.”

He jumped in surprise and then flushed with embarrassment when he realized he had been caught. “I’m sorry, Rogers, I didn’t think you’d be here so late.”

“Same to you, Auror,” she gave him a small smile. “How’s the case going? Any new developments?”

Harry quickly debriefed her about discovering the curse, the information known about it, and about Ron and Mrs. Malfoy. Rogers followed along and nodded her head in agreement when he began talking about how he believed there had to have been previous victims.

“I agree, Potter. A group this powerful would not go into this without careful planning.”

“Exactly!” He said passionately, Harry felt he was on to something big. “I’m going to go check out unsolved cases that involve either a Muggle Born or Half-Blood, I’m also going to send in a request for a copy of the Class A dark artifacts that the ministry owns, and then double check they are still there.Oh, and I need to talk to Mrs. Malfoy’s house-elf, I think she might have had a hand in dropping the wards for the intruders.”

Rogers looked approvingly at him. “Good work on this, Potter. I know this can’t be easy with Auror Weasley in the hospital. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Harry had trouble hiding his pleasure at being complimented by her, but tried his best. “Thank you, Auror Rogers. I will report back in tomorrow.”

He left her office with high hopes and began walking towards the records department, slowing his steps when he saw the light was already on. He paused outside the door again, this time being quieter than he was outside of Rogers’ office.

_“Hurry up and get rid of them! If I knew it was going to be Potter assigned to this case we would’ve done this a lot sooner.” A voice whispered urgently on the other side of the door._

_“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Another voice replied angrily. “And why aren’t you guarding the door? If we mess this up we aren’t going to be given a task again!”_

_“I don’t see why you can’t guard the door and I pull the files-“_

_“Merlin fucking hell, Wrice. Calm down before some hears you.”_

Harry brought out his wand and sent a patronus up to Rogers. _Damn, he wished Draco was here._ But, Wrice? He never thought Wrice would be in on something this dark. Harry’s anger took over at the fact that they had a mole in their department. Unable to stop himself, he busted through the door, taking pleasure at their dumbfounded looks at being caught.

 _“Stupefy!”_ Harry shouted and pointed his wand at the man clutching the files to his chest. The man fell down in a heap and the files flew everywhere. Wrice looked down at his stunned partner and then back up at Harry, his face filled with rage.

“Damn it, Potter. You never can just leave well enough alone,” Wrice snapped. “ _Crucio!”_

Harry immediately fell to the floor in pain, gasping for breath. When he looked up he saw Wrice’s face looking disgustingly satisfied.

“Do you know how bloody annoying it is seeing you strut around the office like you fucking own it?” As Wrice was speaking, his anger was intensifying the curse he had on Harry. “…thinking you’re so goddamn special. You’re weak, Potter,” Wrice spat.

Harry felt darkness licking at his vision, but knew Rogers had to be on her way down. Wrice was still spewing insults at him, but Harry was more focused on trying to stay awake.

“ _STUPEFY!”_ A powerful voice called out, Harry was going in and out of consciousness, but he swore that was Malfoy’s voice.

He felt safer knowing that Draco was here now, and the pain had stopped. He just felt numb. "Draco?" 

The blond rushed over to him and leaned down, gripping his hand tightly in his own. Harry saw Malfoy’s face covered with worry, and he didn’t like that look on him. He wished he could just reach up and kiss the man, feeling that way for the second time of the day. He wanted to let him know he was going to be okay, but right now he needed to rest.

“Harry, Harry, I need you to keep your eyes open. Rogers is coming down right now.” He received a harsh squeeze when he didn’t open his eyes. “Look at me, scar head! You can’t leave me.”

“Bugger off,” Harry whispered, letting the smile Draco was giving him follow him into darkness.

* * *

 

“I think his eyes are opening!”

Harry groaned loudly when he opened his eyes completely, his body filled with pain.

“Oh, Harry!”

He recognized Hermione’s voice and smiled when he saw her restraining from hugging him, something he appreciated. Then he saw her face change into anger. “What were you thinking going in there alone? What if it had been more than two people? They could have killed you!”

“’Mione, I’m okay, just in some pain. By the way, when can I leave?”

Harry’s head snapped to the doorway when he realized Draco was there too, laughing quietly.

“Only you, Potter,” he said fondly, but Harry noticed his face looked tired, as if he’d been up all night. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh, sore,” Harry replied, remembering how safe he had felt when Draco had found him, then a thought occurred to him. "How did you know where I was?"

Draco turned slightly pink and cleared his throat. "I had just arrived at the Ministry to do some more research on the curse when I saw your patronus pause in front of my office. I conjured my own and mine led me down to you." 

Hermione glanced between the two men as if she knew something they didn't, and Harry made a mental note to ask her later. Right now though, he couldn't stop staring at Draco, he felt so comforted knowing that the man had rushed to his aid. "Thank you," he murmured quietly. 

“Err, I think I’m going to go tell a Healer you’re awake now, Harry,” Hermione said before she exited the room quickly. He knew she was just trying to find a reason to leave them alone.

“Scared us, Harry,” Draco said while walking up to his bedside. “You’ve been out for two days now.”

“I know I should’ve waited, but once I heard Wrice’s voice inside I got so angry that an Auror was working to do something like this. It’s not in the oath we take. We vow to protect wizard and witches from harm,” Harry paused to reign in his temper, and his voice softened. “I’m sorry, Draco. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The blond man looked hesitant before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Harry’s. The smaller man gasped in surprise, and Draco pulled away thinking he had hurt him.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

Harry grabbed the other man’s robes and pulled him into the kiss again, sighing softly when Draco responded. Harry was clutching Draco’s robes tightly, trying to pull the man as close as possible to him, he slipped his hands inside the soft fabric and started trailing his fingers down the man’s shirt, pausing briefly when he reached the top of his pants line.

“Harry, Harry,” Draco said breathlessly, not pulling away entirely from him. “We’re in a _hospital_ , and you’re hurt.”

“I want you though,” the smaller man whispered into Draco’s ear, taking pleasure when he felt him shiver at his words.

Draco pulled away enough that Harry could see his grey-eyes blown out with lust, and when he looked down he saw the man’s trousers had a large bulge.

“I obviously want you too,” he said cheekily when he noticed Harry staring. “Let’s finish this case first and then _you_ can take me on a proper date.”

Harry nodded and Draco leaned down to kiss him one more time, pulling away just before Hermione walked back in with a Healer. She glanced quickly at the two men and noticed their disheveled appearance and shook her head in amusement.

“Harry, this is Healer Lowen.”

Harry recognized her as the Healer from the first night, and shifted awkwardly in his bed when he realized he was hard. She didn’t seem to take notice, but he saw Draco’s eyes twinkle with amusement.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?” she asked him while running some diagnostic tests.

Draco and Hermione stood in the back of the room talking between themselves, and it warmed Harry’s heart to see how comfortable they were with each other. He couldn’t imagine Draco leaving his life anytime soon and he wanted his friend’s approval of that too.

“Mr. Potter?” Healer Lowen questioned, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh, yes! My body is just sore.”

The Healer nodded her head at him. “You did receive the Cruciatus Curse for a long period of time. You had some internal bleeding, but we patched that up quickly. The soreness you’re experiencing is from your muscles, they were clenched tightly during the curse to try and minimize the pain.”

“Will I be released for work?” Harry asked,wanting to leave the hospital as soon as he could. He smiled when he saw Draco and Hermione roll their eyes in sync with each other.

“Yes, but try not to do anything too strenuous,” the Healer said while writing him a note to give to Auror Rogers. “Take some pain relief potion every eight hours and that should help with the pain.”

Healer Lowen gave him his first dosage of the pain relief potion and then left the room. Harry quickly downed it and hopped out of his bed, his muscles protesting slightly.

“Let’s go, Draco. We have suspects to question.”

Hermione gave Draco and Harry a quick hug before looking sternly at the smaller man.

“You heard her, Harry. No strenuous activity!”

Draco smirked at her and wrapped his arm around Harry’s waist. “That won’t be happening until _after_ the case is done, Granger.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, I had the most fun writing it. And thank you for everyone that has taken the time to write a comment or leave a Kudos, I truly appreciate it :)


	6. Chapter Six

Harry was disappointed when he arrived back at the headquarters and saw that Wrice had already been questioned.

“Auror Potter,” Rogers called out to him from down the hallway. “I didn’t think I’d see you back here so soon…”

She shot him a suspicious look and Harry tried not to laugh, even she knew he would try about anything to get out of the hospital.

“I have a cleared for duty note, ma'am.” Harry passed her the letter and eagerly waited for her to let him into one of the questioning rooms.

“Fine, Auror. I have already questioned Mr. Wrice, but you are free to question his partner.”

Harry noticed her tone became strained when she mentioned Wrice's name and he nodded in sympathy. It probably didn’t feel good to know one of your Aurors was working for the wrong side.

She suddenly turned to look at Draco. “Mr. Malfoy, I have granted you clearance to accompany Potter into the questioning room. Auror Potter will be doing the actual questioning and you may step in if the suspect begins to mention any dark artifacts.”

“Thank you, Auror Rogers," Malfoy said quietly, tilting his head respectfully at Auror Rogers.

She nodded at both men and walked back down the hallway towards her office. "You know where to find me if you need me."

“Well, should we begin with Wrice’s accomplice then?” Harry asked while flipping through the man’s file. “His name is Brent Wallowstone, age twenty three, has some minor offenses for possessing dark artifacts, and his watch is a level one.” Draco looked questioningly at him. “It just helps us figure out where we should place suspects. Level ones don’t need as much watch as a level five would. They don’t pose as large of a threat to hurting themselves or any Aurors.”

Harry was surprised when he looked over at Draco and saw the other man was struggling with his next sentence. He almost looked nervous. “Wallowstone…" Draco finally said quietly. "They were a very wealthy and powerful wizarding family…they went off the grid when the Dark Lord was vanquished. Last I heard, they moved away to France. They lost everything when He fell.”

He was looking away from Harry as if speaking about his past made him believe that the other man would turn him away.

“Draco,” Harry said quietly, brushing his fingertips gently against the pale hand. “All that was in the past. We were young, we made mistakes. You’re doing an amazing job rebuilding your family's name. I’m not going to hold your past against you.”

Harry felt his pulse race when he saw the raw look on the blond’s face.  “Thank you, Harry,” Draco murmured quietly, his eyes not breaking contact with Harry's bright green ones. 

_Glad I started wearing contacts, Harry thought to himself._

Harry shook himself and began walking towards Wallowstone’s room. “Have you ever been present during an interrogation?” Draco shook his head. “Well, Wallowstone and Wrice are obviously new to the organization, I could tell by the way they were talking in the file room. So, I'm guessing he is going to be as uncooperative with us as possible so he can prove his loyalty to whomever runs the group.”

“Does that mean I get to see you go all big, bad Auror on him?” Draco asked with a smirk, his eyes openly trailing Harry’s body.

“I think I’ll save that for you,” Harry replied cheekily. They continued walking down the long hallway, and Harry vaguely took note at the lack of Aurors around the interrogation rooms. When they reached Wallowstone's room, Harry paused momentarily outside the door. "I'm not quite sure what approach tactic I'm going to have to use yet, so just follow my lead."

Draco nodded at Harry before motioning towards the door. “Shall we, then?”

* * *

 Wallowstone was a short, plump man who reminded Harry vividly of Dudley. He was leaning back casually in his chair and glancing around the room impatiently. When Harry walked inside the room he was given a harsh sneer by Wallowstone. 

_"Guess we're going to have to go with the difficult approach."_

“Brent Wallowstone,” Harry asked calmly. “Do you know why you’re here today?”

“I ain’t sayin’ a word to you, half-breed,” Wallowstone spit, crossing his arms defensively. “Gimme another guy to talk to.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening. Now, can you tell me why you were in the filing department with Mr. Wrice?”

“Whaddit look like we were doin’?”

Harry sighed deeply and tiredly rubbed his eyes. “How about you enlighten me?”

"How 'bout I show you?" Wallowstone leaned forward and closed his eyes, then spread his arms out to his sides with his palms facing upwards. “ _Tantum stolam sanguine_ ,” he chanted under his breath.

Harry stood up and walked towards Draco, but he froze when a sharp pain began spreading across his chest. He saw Draco's eyes widen and when Harry looked down he was surprised to see blood pulsing out. 

"Dra-" the Auror whispered before he let himself fall into Draco's arms. 

Draco supported his weight and cast a stunning spell at Wallowstone, but the spell bounced off the man as if he was being protected from the magic. "Harry, we need to get you out of here and to the hospital."

“What's Wallowstone saying?"

"He's saying ' _Only Pure Blood' ,_  I think he's summoning the others here." 

Harry was trying to keep his head from spinning, but he was beginning to have a hard time focusing.  He felt his already sore muscles start burning again and his chest felt like it was on fire. Harry knew he was whimpering, but he was in too much pain to be embarrassed by it. Draco was gripping him tightly by the waist and trying to lead him out of the room. When Harry glanced back he saw that Wallowstone was still chanting to himself, but now in his palms were pure, white orbs.

When they made it out into the hallway he could hear spells being cast in the other wards. The group must have gotten inside the headquarters with the help of Wrice and Wallowstone. Harry felt his eyes begin drooping shut, and he coughed weakly into his hand, not too surprised to taste blood.

Draco gently leaned Harry down against the wall and drew out his own wand. “I’m going to go see if I can help…”

His sentence died in his throat when both men saw the group of hooded figures with white masks walking towards them, chanting the same thing Wallowstone had been. Draco pointed his wand upwards and quickly cast a patronus to send upstairs. Harry dully noted that the other man’s patronus was a stallion, its strong figure reminded Harry of his Stag.

One of the men pointed their wands at Draco and his body flew in the air until he landed on the ground with a sickening crunch. Harry tried to reach for his wand, but a strong hand stopped him. One of the masked man leaned down and whispered harshly into his ear. 

“Don’t worry, Potter. We’ll take good care of you." 

* * *

Harry awoke tied to a chair in the same cabin that he and Ron had been surveying the week before. He vaguely recognized the surroundings outside the window, the inside of the cabin looked completely different though. It was warm inside, but the interior made Harry’s skin crawl. He could feel dark magic leaking from every corner of the cabin. There were bookcases covering one wall entirely, titles ranging from _Mudbloods: The Diseases They Possess_ to _How to Tame your Dark Artifacts._

He realized that he was in a dimly lit room, one he assumed was supposed to be a guest room. Harry was startled to notice he was not alone in the room either. There were at least five or six other people that were lined up against the back wall, also tied to chairs. In the dark, it was hard to make out, but he was sure all of them had sustained some type of injury.

He tried twisting his hands to see how tight the ropes were, but his whole body lit up with pain. Harry bit back a groan when his head began pounding, it felt like he had been ran over by a stampede of Thestrals.

“Is someone there?” A timid voice whispered, one that sounded child-like.

Harry lifted his head and squinted his eyes to try and see in the darkness, he almost gasped in surprise. He hadn't noticed it before since he was assessing their injuries, but all the people across from him were missing wizard and witches. Harry recognized their faces from the missing person board in the center of the Auror Headquarters. He and Ron often stopped in front of it to see if any new, or familiar faces had been added. Harry had been _so_ close that night to breaking this case before Wrice attacked him.

“Yes, what’s your name?” Harry whispered back, trying to control his temper when he realized it was a little girl speaking.

“My name's Lucy,” the small girl replied. “I-I’m scared.”

Her voice choked on a sob and Harry wished he could comfort her.

“Hey, Lucy, you know what? I’m going to get us out of here, okay?” A sniffle and a small nod was returned to him. “Are you hurt, Lucy?”

“No, but they keep saying I’m next…” She had started crying softly. “I just wanna go home.”

Harry felt his anger building again and he knew the dark magic in the cabin was affecting him like it had been at Draco’s office. He wondered if he focused it on his bindings if he’d be able to break them. He closed his eyes and began trying to direct it into his hands and ignore the pain it was causing. Harry felt his ropes loosen and he slowly stood up to ease the pain in his body.

He walked over to Lucy and saw she had a gash on her face, but otherwise she looked unharmed. He gently untied her ropes and helped her stand up.

“You’re Harry Potter,” she said in wonder, her tear streaked face transforming into a smile.

“Yes, I am, and I also promised I’m going to get you out of here, but I need your help. Do you think you can help me?” The little girl nodded eagerly. “I need you to hide in that closet back there, and I need you to _promise_ me you will not come out no matter what you hear. You only come out when you hear my voice, okay?”

“I promise, Mr. Potter,” she reached forward and hugged him around the waist before tip-toeing to the small closet hidden in the corner of the room.

Harry cast a disillusionment charm on her and began checking on the other victims. Including Lucy, there were six people, two of which Harry realized, had died from their wounds. They had several open cuts down their arms and some on their faces. The wound that had most likely been fatal was the large gash on their chest.

The other three people had faint pulses and wounds similar to the two previous. Harry untied the two wizards that had died and gently laid them on the floor. He then moved onto to the other three and cast a basic healing spell to stall the bleeding for a short while. He then untied the three unconscious wizards and laid them on the ground, placing another disillusionment charm on them.

Harry took a deep breath to compose his self and walked over to the door, hoping he didn’t step on any loose pieces of wood. He peeked through a gap in the wood and counted four wizards that were surrounding the fireplace, and two that were standing guard by the front door, who he recognized as Wrice and Wallowstone.

_Traitors, he thought bitterly._

The Auror began pacing around the room and felt around in his robes. He was disheartened to discover they had been smart enough to take his wand away.

_He needed to send a patronus somehow..._

Harry began thinking about the way it had felt when Draco kissed him and let that happiness fill him until he believed he could cast a patronus. Pushing his hands outwards, he sighed in relief when his stag appeared. He sent it to check on Draco and alert Rogers to his whereabouts. His heart ached when he remembered the way Draco had hit the floor.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, he knew he had to focus on getting out of here alive to get back to the other man. He walked over to the only window inside the room and concentrated on levitating snowballs to slam into the front door. The pain from casting the spells was coursing through his body.

When he heard the men in the living room scrambling around, he moved back by the door and hid against the wall.

“Someone go check on Potter,” a voice snapped. “Wallowstone and Wrice go check outside, and don’t come back in ‘till you find somethin'.”

The door began opening slowly, and then a large figure stepped inside, definitely a man. Harry took his chance and sneaked up behind the wizard, placing them in a choke-hold. He noticed a beefy arm reaching for his wand and Harry quickly snatched it up, placing it at their throat.

“Now, I’m going to take your mask off and you’re not going to make a noise, do you understand?” Harry whispered into the person’s ear. When he felt them nod he removed one hand from their neck and snapped the mask off. Harry almost fell away in shock.

“Goyle?” Harry whispered. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m avenging my friend, Potter. The one that died trying to kill your nasty mudblood.”

“We saved you, Goyle! We would’ve saved Crabbe too if he hadn’t fallen,” Harry said harshly, “We bloody saved you from that fire.”

“Oh, what? Do you want me to bow at your feet like everyone else does? Fuck that, Potter, and fuck you.”

Harry could feel his temper rising and he tried to reign it in, he reached up to Goyle’s temples and pressed hard against them, knowing it would knock him out. Once he felt the large body go limp, he laid him down as quietly as he could.

“Oi, what’s taking Goyle so long in there,” the same voice that spoke before asked. “Someone go get that idiot, he knows we need Potter for the curse. No playing with the food.”

“I’ll go check on em, boss,” someone replied.

Harry was still gripping Goyle’s wand when the door began opening again and Harry quickly fired off a stunning spell.

“Bloody hell,” the boss shouted. “Who the fuck let Potter out of his binds?”

Harry knew he was about to be overpowered because it seemed he had under estimated the amount of people in the living room. He could try and sneak out the window, but he was sure Wallowstone or Wrice would find him, but they would probably be easier to fight off than a large group of wizards. Harry didn’t have a chance to make up his mind before the door flew off the hinges and six other wizards stepped inside. All of them had taken their masks off except the one Harry assumed to be the ‘Boss’.

“Where’d you plan on goin’, Potter?”  Harry recognized the man talking as Theodore Nott, with Pansy Parkinson sneering at Harry behind him.

_Harry scoffed, “How typical of them to just pledge their loyalty to the next rising dark wizard.”_

The ‘Boss’ stood in the middle of the group and finally removed his mask, but his face wasn’t familiar. He was an older man, probably in his forties or fifties whose face was severely scarred.

“Ah, notcin’ my scar? Got it from that filthy werewolf of yours. Lupin, I think his name was? Glad he died, did it ma'self actually. Should’ve saw the moment his face froze…”

The cabin began shaking and Harry realized it was his magic reacting to his anger. He threw his arm out and blew all the people standing behind the ‘Boss’ against the wall. He hadn’t knocked them out, but it seemed as if they were stuck in place. Goyle and the stunned wizard also flew against the wall.

“Who are you,” he gritted out, trying to ignore the pain searing through his body.  

“Oh, how rude of me. I didn’t even introduce ma'self. My name is Gruin Carrow. I’m sure you remember the Carrows from your Hogwarts days, eh? My cousins can be pretty vicious.” He paused as if reminiscing fondly and then smiled twistedly at Harry. “I knew you’d be a good one, Potter. Your magic is so strong, it’s too bad you ain’t pure. I saved you for ma'self.”

Carrow pulled out a chain from underneath his robe and tapped it.

Harry gasped out in pain, it felt like another wound had opened up on his chest. “My magic is in there?”

“Oh yes, I can feel it runnin’ through me. Those people before yeh weren’t as good. I deserved something better and I got it. If you didn’t work I was goin’ to get that little girl out here. Young magic is so pure and untainted, but yours is workin’ out just fine for me.”

Harry tried to cast a stunning spell on the man, but the pain worsened again, he could feel blood dripping down his chest.

“Ah, ah, ah, Potter,” Carrow tutted as if scolding him. “Your magic won’t work on me, it’s as if we’re sharing it right now. You’re just going to sit there and take it like a good little boy.”

Carrow flicked his wand at Harry and the weakened man flew backwards against the cabin wall, his head slamming against the bookcases. Harry felt like the world was spinning, but he managed to clumsily stand up.

“Stubborn one…” the older man grinned. “I like it.”

Harry knew if he could get the necklace off the man he’d be less powerful, but he could feel his body shutting down. His shirt was covered with fresh blood from the two wounds opening up, and his vision had begun getting blurry. 

“It’s almost over, Potter. Just close your eyes,” Carrow whispered while walking up to Harry. “Your sacrifice won’t go to waste. You're helpin' build a new wizarding world!”

Carrow's lackeys began cheering from the position on the wall. "We don't need a Savior no more, Potter."

Harry’s eyes began drooping and he was having a hard time standing up, he slowly slid down the bookcase. He brought his arms up to his chest and tried to press on the wounds. Harry watched Carrow release his followers from against the wall and walk out of the room together, levitating the two wizards passed out on the floor.

_"Lucy..." he thought numbly._

He slowly crawled towards the closet and felt his hands slipping around in the blood he was losing. His magic was weakening and he could see his disillusionment charm wearing off on the other wizards. He finally reached the closet door and slid it open before he rolled over onto his back and panted loudly.

“Mr. Potter! Oh no,” she cried. “My mum’s a nurse at St. Mungos, I know you need to press on the cut to help stop the bleeding.”

Her small hands pressed against his chest, and she apologized to him when he hissed out in pain.

“It's okay, Lucy,” He whispered, his word slurring together. “I just wanted to tell you that there are going to be some other people showing up in a bit. You can trust them, they’ll keep you safe.”

He could still feel her small hands pressing against and his chest and her voice begging him to keep his eyes open, but he was getting so tired. He finally let his eyes drift close.

A moment before he fell into darkness, he thought he heard Aurors swarming inside the home.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! Thank you everyone who took the time to read it, and my story. This won't be the last you see of me. :)

For two weeks Harry slipped in and out of consciousness. When he was able to open his eyes long enough, he was either being poked by Healers, or being visited by his friends. Harry loved the moments where it was just Him and Draco and he could feel the blond man murmuring words of encouragement asking him to “ _please just open his eyes.”_

On his fifteenth day in the hospital, Harry finally regained full consciousness. His room was completely dark and silent, besides the beeping of the machines he was hooked up to.

“Hello?” Harry croaked out, his voice straining from not being used.

“Harry?” Draco asked, surging forward from the darkness. The grey eyes searched his frantically and then a heart-warming smile curved Draco’s lips. “You’re awake.”

Draco leaned down and gently kissed Harry’s forehead before paging a Healer into the room. Healer Lowen came rushing in and froze when she saw Harry’s eyes open.

“Mr. Potter, welcome back,” she said smiling. “I’m going to grab Healer Row and we’ll run some diagnostic tests on you.”

Harry nodded weakly, and looked over at Draco, he noticed the pale hands trembling slightly in his lap.

“Are you okay?”

The smaller man was startled when grey-eyes met his, looking as if they had a sheen of unshed tears over them. “You scared us, Harry. You scared _me._ ”

Draco blinked quickly and his face tightened up. “There was so much blood in that room. A little girl was pressing on your chest…I knew if I didn’t get her to safety first you’d kill me. After that, a group of Aurors came in and apparated away with the other victims. They all made it here alive, except for two. You-your pulse was barely there, I thought you were dead. I tried casting a small healing spell on you to try and stop the bleeding, but nothing was working.”

Harry squeezed Draco’s wrist and forced him to look up. “Stop it, Draco. I’m here now, okay?  How are Ron and your mother doing? What happened to you after I left?”

“All I needed was a quick Skele-Gro to fix myself up and I was good. Weasley is awake, his brain injuries have been repaired. My mother’s magic has also been returned to her completely. They are both still healing here. At the raid, Unspeakables had tagged along with the Aurors to confiscate the dark artifacts that had magic tied to them.”

Harry felt his heart soar when he realized his best mate was awake, as well as Draco’s mother. He was nervous to ask his next question, but he knew he needed to.

“And-and my magic?”

Draco reached out to hold Harry’s hand in his own. “When we got there, Carrow put up a bloody hell of a fight, curses were flying everywhere. They finally took out all of Carrow’s minions and made it to him. I can’t believe Pansy and Theodore were there, they tried to attack me. Aurors got them down before they could even raise their wands at me though. The Unspeakables found Carrow in a backroom trying to complete the rest of the curse, you-you began seizing at that point and I had no fucking clue what to do. Carrow ended up back in the main room and bursted into the room where we were. Rogers is the one that took him down, I’ve never seen her in action like that.”

Harry smiled at the image of Rogers taking control, she didn’t mess around when it came to her Aurors. “Yeah, she’s pretty powerful.”

Draco nodded in agreement and brought Harry’s hand up to his lips, still in awe that he was awake. “After that, the Unspeakables came in and removed the chain off of him. From what I gathered they basically cast a modified and more powerful version of _Diffindo._ They severed Carrow’s connection to the chain and released the magic out into the open. It was a beautiful thing to see, Harry. Raw, untouched magic filled the room before it went straight into your body. You glowed and then the room went dark again, and I was given instructions to apparate you here.”

Harry couldn’t stop staring at the blond piece of hair that kept gently falling into Draco’s face before the pale hand pushed it behind his ear. He had changed out of his robes into slacks and a button down shirt that he had pushed up to his elbows.

“Are you listening to me, Potter?” Draco asked with an amused look.

“Err, no. You’re really quite pretty.” Harry took satisfaction when Draco’s face turned pink.

Healer Lowen came back in with Healer Row in tow and Draco had to leave the room during the exams.

“I’ll go floo Hermione to let her know you’re awake,” Draco said, hesitating at the doorway.

“I’ll still be here when you get back,” Harry said jokingly, when he saw the reluctance in the grey-eyes to leave. Draco finally nodded and left the room.

“Mr. Potter, are you feeling any pain? Healer Row asked, while Lowen ran her wand up and down Harry’s body. He hadn’t really took notice of it before, but his entire body ached, especially his chest.

“Yes, my chest hurts.”

Healer Row nodded at him. “That’s to be expected. You lost quite a bit of blood, Mr. Potter. It’s lucky you got here when you did. It took us a week to fully replenish your body with the proper amount of blood, and to heal all the internal bleeding the curse did. We tried to minimize the scarring on your chest, but it was difficult.”

Harry pulled his gown away from his neck and peeked down at his chest. It was badly bruised and stitched up.

“We have you attached to an IV that is supplying you fluids to help keep you hydrated, and the other is a potion given to us by some Unspeakables. They would not give us full details of what’s inside, but it’s to help speed up your healing process.”

Harry nodded again and the full of extent of what he’d been through hit him, he felt knackered. “Do you know when I’ll be able to go home?”

Healer Lowen and Row laughed quietly and Harry couldn’t help but sheepishly grin. Healer Row’s pager went off and he quietly excused himself from the room.

“You okay, Lowen?” he asked before leaving, when she nodded at him he disappeared down the hallway.

She explained that he would have to take it easy for the next few weeks until his body was completely healed. He would be able to be discharged from the hospital within the week, but would only be cleared for desk work. Healer Lowen began walking to the doorway before she turned around again to face him.

“Mr. Potter,” she began nervously, tears filling her brown eyes. “That was my little girl, Lucy. You brought her back to me.”

“You’ve raised a wonderful little girl, Healer Lowen.”

Lowen stifled a sob and shook Harry’s hand, careful not to hurt him. “Thank you, Mr. Potter.”

She wiped her eyes before she walked out the door and Harry leaned back into his bed and smiled up at the ceiling.

_Maybe it had been worth it._

* * *

 

A week later Harry was discharged from the hospital, but Rogers forbid him to step foot into the Headquarters for another week. Ron was released before Harry, and the red head came running into his room.

“Mate,” Ron said and walked over to Harry’s bedside. “Blimey, it sounds like one hell of a case.”

The two men stared at each other before embracing. “I’m glad you’re awake.”

“Thanks to you!” Ron said, pulling away slightly. “’Mione should be on her way down with Malfoy.”

Harry stiffened, realizing he’d have to explain his tentative relationship with the other man. “Don’t worry, mate. ‘Mione already explained it to me. He makes you happy?” Harry nodded. “Then, I’ll attempt to be friendly to the git.”

“Thanks, Ron,” Harry knew it couldn’t have been easy for him to say that.

“Harry!” Hermione quickly wobbled over to Harry, her belly slowing her down a little. She gently hugged him and Harry relaxed into the embrace. “I was so worried,” she sniffled.

“Don’t do that, ‘Mione. I’m okay,” Harry whispered into her ear.

Hermione finally pulled away and went to stand next to Ron. Draco was standing in the doorway. He finally walked over to Harry and stood in front of him.

“What do you think they’d do if I kissed you, Potter?” Draco said as he leaned in towards Harry, his peppermint breath puffing across his lips.

“Why don’t you find out?” Harry said, his voice making it clear it was a challenge.

Draco gave Harry the beautiful smile that lit his entire face up and Harry swore right then that he always wanted to be the reason behind it. The other man leaned forward and brushed his lips against Harry’s, as if asking him if it was okay.

_Oh, this was definitely okay._

 Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck and deepened the kiss, their tongues fighting for dominance. Soft hands gripped his hips and Harry tangled his fingers into the blond locks. He could feel himself hardening and pulled Draco closer to him, desperate to feel the man against him.

“Oi!” Ron shouted, his voice filled with shock. “There are other people in the room.”

Draco pulled away and rested his forehead against Harry’s, his eyes twinkling with amusement and lust.

“Guess that answers that question.”

Harry laughed and linked his fingers into Draco’s, feeling shy when Hermione shot him a knowing smile.

“I do not want to see my best mate making out,” Ron said seriously, pointing his finger sternly at Draco. “I will be forced to retaliate.” Hermione thwacked him on the arm and turned pink.

A knock came from outside the door and Healer Lowen walked in with his discharge papers. “Ready to go, Mr. Potter?”

Harry almost leaped for joy, but refrained, knowing that would probably add another week to his stay.

“Oh, yes.”

She laughed and explained all his take home notes to him, giving him extra bandages and healing cream. “Just make a follow-up appointment in two weeks so we can check out how your chest is healing.”

Harry signed off on all the paperwork and whooped when his bracelet fell away.

“Thank you for everything, Healer Lowen. How’s Lucy doing, by the way?”

“Oh, she’s great. She’s at home with her dad right now. I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Mr. Potter. She’s currently in the process of writing you a thank you note. I'm sure I'll have it here on your next visit," Lowen said smiling softly as she spoke of her daughter, she walked to the door and paused briefly in the doorway. “Have a good rest of your day, Mr. Potter.”

Draco had insisted on seeing Harry home, and who was he to refuse such a polite offer?

Hermione and Ron had given Harry one last hug, making him promise to come over for dinner sometime this week. Hermione had hugged Draco and Ron had grudgingly shook his hand. Harry was grateful that Ron was trying for his sake.

* * *

 

“Shall we, Potter?”

Harry grabbed Draco’s hand and apparated them to Grimmauld Place. “Sorry, I know it’s not too fancy.”

“It feels like home,” Draco said with a warm smile. “You go upstairs and change into something more comfortable and I’ll find us some food.”

Harry hurried up the staircase, _"Should he dress casually? Go completely commando?"_

He finally decided on his comfy, green pajama bottoms and a loose fitting t-shirt. His chest still ached from the bruises. He could smell the aroma of chicken noodle soup coming from downstairs.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Harry said, his voice not disguising his surprise. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe. Harry felt his heart flutter when he saw how comfortable the man looked in his home, he hoped it could become an often occurrence.

“Barely,” Draco admitted, turning to smile at Harry. “C’mon, lets it while it’s still hot.”

Draco’s fingers brushed Harry’s when he was passing him his bowl and the same brief feeling of magic passed through them. “Did you feel that?” Harry asked.

“Ah, yes, that. I felt it the first day at my office too. It just means that we have a strong magical connection. Our magic is literally drawn to the other ones.”

Harry hummed thoughtfully, for some reason that news made him unbelievably happy.

“Umm, are you really hungry?” He asked Draco. “I haven’t even gotten to give you a tour of the house yet…”

Draco smirked knowingly at him. “Oh really?”

“Mhm,” Harry said with a smile, grabbing Draco’s hand. “Let me show you my bedroom first.”

* * *

 

Draco’s lips were on Harry’s as soon as they made it into his bedroom.

“Fuck, Harry,” Draco groaned, trailing kisses down Harry’s neck, his hands roughly pinning him against the wall. “I’ve waited you since the day you walked into my office.”

Harry moaned at the confession and led Draco over to his bed, their lips never parting, before he pushed the man down onto it. He carefully removed his shirt, and then started to unbutton Draco’s.

“You’re beautiful,” Harry murmured, his fingers trailing the smooth expanse of skin. He recognized the scar Harry had given him their sixth year, and leaned down to kiss it. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Draco panted, his hips arching up as Harry kissed his way down the man’s stomach. “You didn’t know what it could do.”

Harry slowly slid Draco’s pants down and bit his lip when he saw he had also gone commando. “Fuck, Draco,” he hissed.

His cock bobbed out of the pants and curved flat against his stomach. Harry pulled back to drink in the site of Draco naked beneath him. His chest was flushed with desire and his eyes were hooded. His cock was long and slender, the pink tip was leaking onto his stomach.

Harry licked his lips and leaned down to place a soft kiss on it. He swirled his tongue around the tip, breathing in the musky scent of Draco. Harry licked along the sides of it, reaching his hand into his own pants when Draco’s moans increased in volume. He kept his teasing up for a bit before his resolve broke at Draco's desperation. 

“Harry,” Draco keened. “Don’t tease me, please. _Please._ ”

Harry smiled before he slid his mouth all the way onto Draco’s cock, he pulled his hands out of his pants to focus completely on the man’s body. Draco arched his hips into his mouth and Harry reached up to hold them in place. The pale hand curled tightly into Harry’s hair and pushed his head deeper onto his cock. Harry let Draco fuck his mouth, before he hollowed his cheeks and sucked hard, feeling satisfied when Draco shouted unintelligibly.

“ _Oh, Merlin._ I’m so close, Harry.”

He released Draco’s hips and urged him to take control, Harry could feel Draco’s cock brushing against his throat. The man above him shouted his warning before thick ropes coated Harry’s throat. Draco pulled Harry forward into a kiss and they lost themselves in each other. Their hands roaming gently, until touches became needy and desperate.

“Fuck me,” Draco said, peppering soft kisses down Harry’s chest, careful to avoid his bruises. Harry’s cock twitched at the thought and he wandlessly summoned the lube from his nightstand.

“Ah, see you like to stay prepared.”

He leaned forward and rolled Draco under him, he didn’t want to rush this moment. He applied a generous amount of lube to his hands and gently stuck two fingers inside Draco. Harry pressed kisses against the pale, hardening cock and kept scissoring Draco. He added a third finger and twisted his hand until he found the spot that had Draco arching off the bed.

 “ _Fuck, fuck, fuck_ , Harry,” Draco sobbed. Harry almost came in his pants when he heard the need in Draco’s voice. He kept stretching Draco until the man was basically begging to be fucked. Harry finally kicked off his pajama bottoms and smiled when he saw Draco eyeing his cock appreciatively. He applied lube to himself and lined his tip up to Draco's hole.

“Ready?” Harry asked, his eyes roaming Draco’s face for any doubt. Instead of answering, he wrapped his legs around Harry's arse and pulled the man inside him.

Harry had to close his eyes to focus on not finishing, he could already feel his impending orgasm. Draco cupped his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, their tongues clashing. He didn’t know where to put his hands, he was trying to commit Draco’s body to memory.

“Harder,” Draco whispered in his ear, tugging on the lobe.

At that, Harry lost any self-control he had, he pulled Draco’s legs up and draped them over his shoulders. Harry pumped his hips and couldn’t stop the moans that fell from his lips. He angled his body so he repeatedly hit Draco’s prostate. The man was coming undone beneath him and he looked _so_ beautiful. Draco was furiously pumping his cock, but Harry batted his hand aside and started pumping it in time with his hips.

“ _Oh, Draco_ ,” Harry groaned, biting down on his lip. His hips started thrusting erratically. Draco moaned and threw his head back, his body tightening around Harry’s cock and he felt his orgasm rush through him.

“Bloody hell,” Harry said as he collapsed onto the other side of Draco. “That was great.”

Draco waved his wand over the both of them and cast a cleaning spell before flipping onto his side and smiling happily at Harry, his arm curling around his waist. “You bet your fucking arse it was.”

Harry sighed contentedly. “Let’s go eat some of that soup now. I’m starving.”

“Let’s eat it in bed,” Draco said, levitating the soup upstairs. “I want you ready for round two in a bit. I'll show you what I can do with my tongue,” he said wickedly. 

The smaller man leaned over and kissed his partner, his heart warming with happiness. He could feel their magic intertwining and realized he would be okay with spending the rest of his days with this man. Draco smiled into the kiss and laced their fingers together.

“Only you, Harry Potter.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read my story, please let me know what you think!


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